Music Makes Me Lose Control
by Shir0
Summary: Fax. AU. AH. Due to the abusiveness of an uncaring father, Maximum Ride decides to run away from home, but falls victim to a car accident. It ends up that she gets taken care of in an asylum for the "mentally disabled" - or the psychologically scarred.
1. Welcome to Paradise City

**WARNING: SUPER LONG AUTHOR'S NOTE.**

So, here's my first Maximum Ride story. It takes place in an alternate universe, meaning it's an all-human story. The main idea of this is that all of the bird-kids are sent into a "mental disabilities" location, which is actually an asylum for psychologically scarred kids-teens. None of them have been allowed to see the light outside, so the only people they're around are the others there, knowing nothing much about the real world as most of them have been sent there at a young age or did not have a regular childhood. *shrugs* Random idea.

Sorry if this is _really _OOC. I haven't read the books in a while and my hate for the whole love-ordeals that go on in _Fang _and _Angel _make me angry. Prepare for FAX! (And Iggel too, maybe.) Screw Fang/Maya and Max/Dylan! (Sorry if you support those pairings! If you do and hate Fax with all your guts, you shouldn't read this because it ends up that way.)

Ugh. I'm not James Patterson. If I was, I'd just leave the MAXR series at the end of _Max. _With _Max/Fang. _

As it was meant to be. -.-

**Note: **Probably not going to have major appearances of Dylan, Maya or anyone outside the main flock. (Unless it ends up that I need one of those annoying…)  
>Also, the last names of the main flock (except for Max) are references from some of my favorite anime and video games. See if you can figure out the references! (The last names don't really have much to do with their personalities in this story, in my opinion, except for Fang's.)<br>Lastly, Jeb is supposed to be the way he is. I know he's not like that in the book, but please let it go for this story or else I would've had to make a new character with his personality, which is something I don't like to do.

**Disclaimer: **Like I said, I'm not James Patterson. He makes me angry all of a sudden. Also, the "As it was meant to be" was referenced from MakoRain, an awesome Final Fantasy VII (and others, but I love her FF7 stories) author.  
>All books and characters belong to James Patterson. Last name references belong to their respective video gameanime.

SORRY FOR THE FRIGGIN' LONG AUTHOR'S NOTE. **I promise it'll be a lot shorter next time.**

**Music Makes Me Lose Control**

**Chapter One: **_**Welcome to Paradise City**_

(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)

_ Maybe dying wouldn't be so bad._

_ I'm already dying, aren't I?_

_ My body being used in such a cruel manner. For pleasure. By my own father._

_ Despicable. Inhumane. Evil._

_ The word 'freedom' was locked up in one of the chambers of my heart. It was a word never to be used, a word that was taboo in my head. Freedom always teased me. It always mocked me, looked at me with those malicious eyes and whispered in my ear the joys and happiness I would never be able to experience before I died._

_ Death. _

_ What is death?_

_ Is it really a man in a black cloak who ventures the world with a scythe? Or it is just a figment of our imagination? Is there anything after death? Will all the pain really go away if I choose to die?_

_ What _is_ death?_

_ And finally, _music.

_ How does music end up intertwining with these two other ideas? _

_ It doesn't. _

_ Music makes him lose control. _

(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)

_Run faster, _Max shouted to herself as her feet moved wildly through the bushes. _Faster, faster, don't stop…_

"Max!"

"_Shit!_" she muttered lowly under her breath. "Dammit, Jeb, can't you run any slower?" The seventeen-year-old girl looked ahead into the night, her head pounding from the cuts she received from running through the thick forest. Her eyes began to tear up as she caught a relatively large vine against her foot. She scrambled down and tore it off her just as the man behind her caught up.

"Max!" he exclaimed again, much closer to her.

She glanced behind her, but dashed off into the mass of evergreen and kept running as fast as she could. _Please, if there's any kind of "God" out there, help me! _Her hands and arms were torn up and cut and she was tired. Panting, she skidded to a stop as realization kicked in.

The only thing below her was a busy street intersection.

Once again, Max looked behind and saw the man that had caused her so much pain.

Then back again at the street.

She chose the street.

With a running start, Max leapt off the bluff and slid down the hill on her knees. The pain in her legs ached tenfold and she bit her lip to keep from screaming out loud. From behind, she heard the loud voice of Jeb, shouting for her to stop herself. But she didn't want to stop, as she preferred death over the torture of an abusive parent.

She rose up to a standing position and jumped over the stone that cut the hill off from the street. A smile lit her face as time seemed to slow when she jumped. Her arms swung out as if she was spreading wings. She imagined what it would be like if she could fly.

The world soon came crashing down.

Her eyes widened as the ground came spiraling towards her. She rolled onto her feet, but she wasn't fast enough to dodge the incoming car. As soon as she saw the lights of the car, she knew it was over. Like a deer in headlights, Max froze and felt her muscles tense.

The impact was hard, and Max fell to the ground with a hard _thud. _She couldn't feel anything and her head pounded with pain. The lights flashing through her peripheral vision were driving her crazy. And the shouting. That _shouting. _A look of disgust spread across her face as she realized who was yelling.

_ "Max?"_ Jeb.

All she could do in response was groan.

_"I'm sorry…?" _

Was that worry in his voice or was it sarcasm?

…_Screw you, Jeb…_

"_I'll get you to the hospital. You'll be alright." _Now _that _sounded like Jeb – evil, sadistic, evil, masochistic and evil. _Oh, and evil, _she added. _"Then we can go home and talk about this."_

_Kill me, kill me, kill me, _Max cried in her head as the darkness engulfed her.

(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)

"Are you awake?"

Her eyebrows scrunched in confusion. That didn't sound like Jeb at all. It was more of a young man's voice – maybe sixteen or seventeen – but not at all like an old, sexual criminal. The voice was low, but not annoyingly low. His tone of voice was genuine worry, a sound she hadn't heard in the longest time.

"Y-yeah…" she murmured quietly, her voice coming out with a croak. Her eyes opened slowly. "Hi. Uh…I'm Max. Maximum. Maximum Ride. Whichever." She looked around and realized she was in something like a hospital room.

The teen nodded, shuffling around in his seat. He had messy and short strawberry blonde hair and seemed to not realize where Max was sitting. His eyes were unfocused and a very pale hue of blue. "Maximum Ride, huh?" he repeated slowly, his face scrunching up in thought. She thought it was cute with the way his eyebrows knotted together as his eyes darted all around. "I'm James… Err, Iggy. Iggy Sparda." He wore a black and red _Devil May Cry _T-shirt and had on cut up denims.

"It's nice to meet you, Jiggy," she joked with a smile. The look on her face was pure relief.

Iggy made no remark to her facial expression. "Just Iggy, please. Or else I'll be forced to create innuendos upon your name." He sounded rather serious about his threat, but Max saw a gleaming hint of humor in his eyes.

"Uh. Like…what?" For a second, she was afraid to know.

"Trust me, you don't want to know." As if appearing out of the shadows, a man that looked around Iggy's age entered. He had shoulder-length black hair and dark sunglasses masking his eyes. A black leather jacket was worn over a black shirt/beater, and he had on a pair of black skinny jeans. When she looked down, she noticed shitkickers that were (you guessed it!) black. In contrast, his skin was a pale, almost sickly white. "Amused by me?" he muttered quietly in a husky voice that seemed as if it wasn't used often.

Max cocked her head to the side in confusion at him. "Wait, where am I?" For a second, Max imagined the guy wearing all the black with a red headband, a red trench-coat, a gauntlet and holding a three-barreled gun. "_Way…too creepy,_" she muttered under her breath, thankful that he didn't have red eyes. If he did, she'd probably get nightmares every night.

Iggy sighed and signaled to the paler boy to continue.

In response, the pale one rolled his eyes. "Most know what they're getting into when they come here." He slid his glasses off and tucked it into one of his pants pockets and Max noticed his obsidian eyes glinting with hatred. "This is the place where us kids and teens with 'mental disabilities' –" –he air-quoted the words– "stay to get treatment and shit." A sigh left his lips. "In all honesty, this is just the place where they slam the younger people they don't feel like helping."

"M-mental disabilities?" Max repeated in shock. The authorities thought she had _mental disabilities? _"What? I don't have –"

"It's what they all say," the pale one cut in. "Calm down. You'll get used to it."

"But I don't belong –"

"I'll repeat myself." He strode closer and leaned in, mere inches away from Max's nose. "It's what they all say, so get used to it."

Max stared into his eyes for second longer than intended. In those few seconds, she realized that his eyes were not black, but a very dark brown. "But…" _At least they weren't red, _she repeated in her head.

He leaned back and sighed heavily. "Are we really going to have to argue about something this simple?" The man grabbed a chair from the side and flipped it around so that the back was against his chest as he sat down. He leaned his arms on the top of it and looked at Max again. "Fine. Ask away."

"Who are you?"

"Of course that's your first question."

"Fang!" Iggy grumbled, his voice threatening. Max had nearly forgotten that he was there. "You're never going to make any friends with that attitude!"

He sighed again. It seemed that it was all he wanted to do. "Like I _want _to make friends. If I didn't, those scientists, psychiatrists, therapists or whatever they are would throw me into the psycho hole like they did Nudge –"

"_Fang!_" Iggy scolded much louder. Obviously this 'Nudge' person was close to Iggy.

"Calm _down, _Iggy!" His head shook slowly and he looked back up at Max. "Nick Valentine. Everyone calls me Fang, though." He scooted closer in his chair and held his hand out to her.

"Maximum Ride. People call me Max." She leaned forward and winced, but still shook his hand. Noticing that his hands were so cold against her rather warm ones, she asked, "Why are you in here, Nick?"

Fang turned away and shrugged. "I've got a couple problems," –Iggy snickered at this– "but I guess my main one is…well…" He rolled up one of the sleeves of his jacket and shoved his wrist towards her face. "See for yourself."

Max looked down at the horribly deformed arm. There were crisscrosses of cuts and the skin had obviously not been able to heal properly. As he held it up, she noticed that his whole arm was shaking, as if he couldn't hold it up with much strength. "You…cut yourself?"

"Yeah."

"Ouch."

"Nah. Not really. It's not so bad… I mean, for a while, my parents actually cared about me for a while," he muttered quietly, pulling his arm away and averting his eyes from hers. "It was worth it."

"My parents never cared about me," she responded, her face betraying no emotion. "Especially my dad." She shivered at the memories of his abusive ways. "He was…really bad."

Iggy cleared his throat. "How about we leave sob stories for later?" he suggested. "I think Max would probably like some rest?" The sentence ended up as a question.

"No, it's okay. I think I've rested enough."

"Do you want a little tour of The School?" Iggy asked, still not looking at Max eye-to-eye.

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "I thought this was a psycho ward. Or whatever."

Fang laughed lowly, the sound sarcastic. "We just call it 'The School.' It's actually called…" His voice trailed off. "I…don't remember what it's called. I've called it The School ever since I've been here and I just…" He went silent again. "Uh, anyway, I'll go ahead and help you around, then I guess, Max." A hand went up to sheepishly scratch the back of his head.

Max smiled to herself, thinking that was absolutely adorable. "That sounds good." Just as the words left her lips, her stomach rumbled like the sound of thunder.

"Someone's hungry," Fang teased, his voice still somewhat dull. "Come on. I'll show you around." He rose from his chair and slid it off to the side, standing beside the bed Max was lying in. Max looked up at him and wondered how tall he was, considering he _looked _tall from her point of view.

" 'Kay," Max finally agreed, shrugging and sitting up straighter. The discomfort in her stomach had fallen into a dull throb, but there was excruciating pain troubling her bruised head.

"Will you join us, Ig?" The low and quiet voice was suddenly somewhat worried as Fang noticed the pain on her face. Those dark eyes kept glancing back and forth from the blonde one to her.

Iggy shook his head. "Nah, I'm not hungry. I'll probably go check up on Nudge and the others later."

"Which means you'll spend a few hours with Nudge –"

"Fang!" Iggy grumbled.

Fang raised his hands up in a 'calm down' gesture. "I'm pulling your leg, Ig. Calm it down." Max sat up slowly and swung her legs over the bed, not wanting to interfere with the two of them. Noticing this, Fang gently took her hand and helped her across the room.

Iggy shot a glare towards Fang, which didn't seem to be doing much as Iggy faced the wrong wall. "No one _ever _knows when you're, ahem, 'pulling our leg.'"

"Seriously?" Fang rummaged in his pocket for something, but continued talking. "I'm like, the funniest one in our little flock."

The blonde one stood up and shuffled slowly towards the general area Max and Fang were standing in. "You listen here, Fang," Iggy started, poking his finger against the air where he wanted to poke Fang in the chest. Fang quickly grabbed Iggy's hand and pressed it against Max's chest. "Yeah, you listen here, Fang."

Max's eyes narrowed. "Wrong chest."

"…" Iggy lifted his hand up from hers and shifted his hand to the left. "You listen here, Fang," he said for the third time, "you make another wrong move and I'm going to… Well, let's just say you wouldn't want to end up in the middle of mine and Gasman's next experiment." All of a sudden, Max wondered what Iggy's 'problem' was.

Fang slowly swallowed. "Yeah…I probably don't want to," he replied carefully. His steely eyes met Max's, and he cocked his head toward the door. She nodded and quietly opened it, hoping to slide out unnoticed.

"Oh come on, don't leave me, bro," Iggy grumbled, lifting his hand up and winding it back into a fist. Max left with the room with lightning fast speed and shut it tightly behind her before Iggy could do any damage.

With fast reflexes, Fang snatched Iggy's hand and spun him around. Quickly, he opened the door and ran out the door. Before he could escape his fate, Fang bumped into Max, pushing her to the ground. He soon followed, but managed to hold out his hands before doing any damage to the girl. "Whoops."

"Nick?" she muttered quietly, a faint blush sweeping her face.

"Y-yeah, I know, sorry," he hastily said, avoiding eye contact with hers. "Err…" His hands were locked against hers above her head and his knees straddled her at the outside of her knees. Finally, Fang looked down at her. Those eyes were absolutely beautiful.

"Could you get off me?" Max quickly asked.

"Yeah, lovebirds, don't make a scene out there!" Iggy shouted from inside the infirmary-bedroom-thing.

His eyes widened, and he quickly scrambled off of her. "Sorry." He hopped to his feet and hauled her up carefully. "That probably didn't help any of your pains you got from that accident." He again scratched the back of his head and used his other hand to slam the infirmary door shut, obviously annoyed at Iggy.

As if on cue, the throb in Max's head soon exploded into a full-on migraine. "Ow…" she muttered, her face scrunching in pain. "Ow, ow, ow…" She started to rubbing her temples in tight circles.

"Sorry…"

Max looked at him curiously.

He returned the look with confusion.

"What?"

She rolled her eyes and gently punched his shoulder. "You say sorry too much."

"Do I?" A perfect eyebrow raised in interest. "Is that a bad thing?"

Max shrugged and patted her clothes down and realized that she wasn't wearing the clothes she considered rags when she ran away from Jeb. Instead, she wore a light blue tank top and brown khakis. "No, it's just kinda weird." Her eyes ventured from his face to her surroundings. Right now, they were standing in a dimly lit hallway with doors all around. She assumed that this was either the infirmary type place or a mix of an infirmary and bedrooms.

"Why?" Fang looked amused, if his pale face could show any real emotion. He turned around for a second to see what she was looking at, but returned his eyes to her. He was completely intrigued by this girl. So…different._ But then again, _Fang reminded himself, _most people here are._

"You ask too many questions," she replied simply, sighing. "Come on, Nick, I'm getting hungry." Her stomach rumbled again.

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever. We'll get to the kitchen eventually."

"Eventually?"

"Eventually," he repeated, placing his hand on her shoulder and dragging her along. "I'll start with the garden, if you'd like."

Max blinked and froze. "A garden?"

"For fresh air." He said those three words as if it was the most obvious answer to her two-worded question. "It's probably the most serene place you'll find here." Fang gripped her shoulder tighter, bringing Max back into reality. "I think we'll see Angel there too."

His eyes seemed to light up, Max noticed. "Who's Angel?"

"You're full of questions today, aren't you?" he teased again, his voice finally making a change for the little joke.

Max hit him on the shoulder again. "I'm the new one here. Aren't I _supposed _to ask questions?" She strode toward the glass door Fang seemed to be walking to. "Here?"

"Yep." He ignored her first question and stepped in front of her, staring through the glass door. Fang pressed his cold palm against the cool glass and looked at the beautiful green shrubs and trees outside. The flowers were growing beautifully and against the trunk of a tree sat a young girl, who couldn't have been older than eight or nine. The sky was a perfect blue with small spots of clouds pressing white against a colorful background.

He sighed again and turned the doorknob. With a soft chuckle and a passing glance towards Max, he said, "Welcome to Paradise City, Maximum Ride."

(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)

"_Take me down to the paradise city where the grass is green and the girls are pretty. Take me home…"_

**Paradise City – **_Guns 'n' Roses_

**(end of chapter one)**

Hope you enjoyed it.

The next one will mostly take place in "Paradise City," which is the unofficial name of the garden. (It's what the flock calls it.) There, we will meet Angel and Gazzy and a few other key players. Nudge will be met in a different chapter, or at the very end of the next one, depending on chapter content and length.

Please review! Constructive criticism is always appreciated. If this is OOC to you, please forgive me because I've never written a Maximum Ride story before. If it _is _OOC and you mention it, don't forget to put how you think they should be and I'll make some changes according to your review if I think that it makes enough sense. If there are mistakes, please point them out~  
>You should also guess the two last names put into this chapter! (Iggy Sparda, Nick Valentine) :D There are little references throughout the chapter. These two are actually pretty obvious with the hints I put.<p>

The rating might change because I know how much I love a lemon. Tell me how you feel about it as the story progresses!

Thanks! I'll try to update ASAP, if possible on my hectic schedule.

~anime-heroine

_**Edit: **__I've added a song quote and made some corrections. ^^_


	2. Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying

Short notes. I promised. (They're evil notes :D)

**Disclaimer.** Belongs to Mr. JP. Blah.

PLEASE REVIEW. REVIEW **INNOCENCE OF A MOCKINGBIRD** TOO. D:  
>(Or I will never update this story ever again! Or <strong>IMB!<strong> BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!)

**Music Makes Me Lose Control**

**Chapter Two: **_**Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying**_

(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)

"Angel?"

The eight-year old girl looked up from her drawing and saw Fang looking down at her with a worried look on his face. She cocked her head to the side and watched as those dark eyes blinked rapidly, a new emotion glowing in them. "Yes?"

He glanced at the girl next to him before continuing. "I just wanted you to meet a new…" He paused. "…Patient."

The blonde girl raised an eyebrow, confusion apparent on her face. "Patient?"

Angel smiled gently. Another girl would be a good addition to their flock, as the girls were outnumbered two-to-three. She scrambled up from her seat against the tree, still holding tightly onto her notebook and pencil. "Hi. I'm Angel Harmonia." The look on her face was a mix of relief and curiosity as she beamed up at the girl standing before her. Angel watched the girl carefully, waiting for her opaque face to betray emotions for her to pick up on.

"I'm Maximum Ride. But you can just call me Max," she greeted, returning the smile tenderly. "How are you?"

Nothing she said or did showed Angel any emotions, which was shocking, as Angel was the one that could understand and noticed people's emotions the best. "I'm doing well, and you?" Angel instantly liked her. She had this atmosphere of kindness, but something about her was intriguing. She wondered what got her into The School, for that was the foundation that held back all of her other emotions.

"I'm…confused," Max admitted quietly. She glanced at Fang for a moment, the look in her eyes questioning. "I don't get why I'm here, and I don't really understand the whole point of this place."

Fang sighed and patted her shoulder somewhat awkwardly, to say the least. "Do you want me to leave you two alone for a while?" he asked. His eyes bore into Angel's, obviously trying to ask her something.

Angel's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Are you going to cut yourself again, Fang?" she asked with a saccharine voice that was too sweet to be deemed innocent. Her eyes wandered to his fingers and wrists, most of which were covered by his leather jacket. What she did see were numerous amounts of Band-Aids wrapped around each finger. "What happened to your fingers?"

Fang shot Max a warning glare as the older girl looked down at his hands. He glanced at Angel. "I...I accidentally… I mean, Ig cut me when he was cooking," he mumbled quietly, averting his eyes away from Angel and looking at Max almost pleadingly. "Knives…you know… They're sharp…"

"Oh? What exactly happened?" Angel questioned with that same innocent look and smile. "Sure, Iggy is blind, but he's not…_that _bad with a knife." Obviously, Angel was good with words and expressions.

Fang froze. "Err…"

"I'm sure it was an accident," Max piped in quietly. She had raised an eyebrow at '_Iggy is blind_,' but decided to ask questions later. "And yes, Nick, I think I'd like to talk with Angel privately."

His shoulder relaxed considerably. "Alright. I'll be in the lounge if you need me." As if dissolving into darkness, Fang left them in the garden.

Max watched him walk away with an almost longing look in her eyes. "So…" she started, glancing down at the younger girl, trying to shake the yearning feeling away.

"Hi." Angel smiled and nodded.

"Hi." Max regarded her look with a soft grin.

"How are you?"

"Didn't we already have this conversation?"

"…Mmhm." Angel glanced towards another building mirroring the infirmary-bedroom-thing-building. "He actually tore off the hangnails peeling off his fingers," she suddenly added, rolling her eyes.

Max looked surprised. "How do you know that?" Her eyes wandered off elsewhere and Angel guessed that she was thinking about Fnicky.

"I'm a mind-reader," she replied happily, looking completely serious.

"Seriously?"

Angel giggled and stuck her tongue out. "No, of course not. I'm just good at reading people's emotions, silly." She took Max's hand in hers and led her along the garden. "Come on! I know some really pretty spots to find flowers here." With her other hand, she picked up her notebook and pencil and ran through the small garden's trails and into a large open field of green grass.

Upon Max's face bestowed a look of amazement as her eyes scanned the garden scenery. The sky was a beautiful blue and the grass looked just as amazing. _There are no words for this kind of place, _she thought. "Wow, Angel… It's all…so_ pretty_!" Among the field were different bushes and shrubs, and Max could pick out the random colors against the green pallet. "Roses, lilies, dandelions… There's so much to see…"

"I know!" Angel exclaimed excitedly, dropping Max's hand and running off to look at the flowers. "Here, here, look at this one! This is a moonflower! It's my favorite kind…" The flower itself looked scrunched up and un-blossomed. "This one's the ipomoea alba…"

Max cocked her head to the side in confusion. "Why is it all…dead-ish?"

Angel laughed. "It's not dead! The flowers with the nickname of 'moonflower' all sprout during the night. Then when the morning sun touches the flower, it goes back into this squishy thingy. Except when it's cloudy. When it's cloudy, it can stay out for longer," she explained with joy. Her eyes suddenly flickered up to a quick motion in the distance. "Watch out, Max."

"Eh?" Max looked up from the flower to see the rather small, but noticeable shadow. "What's wrong?"

"The Gasman's here," she sighed.

Max blinked. "Gasman?"

(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)

"Yo, Ig!" Fang called from his place on the couch. His arm was cast over his eyes, and he groaned in pain. "Could you get me some Tylenol or something?"

Iggy sighed and rolled his unseeing eyes. "Like I know where it is!"

"You so totally know where it is!" Fang rebutted, grunting.

"But what if Doc M moved everything?" Ig replied, putting down his knife and turning off the oven in annoyance. "It was hard enough makin' breakfast and lunch today and now you expect me to find those medication pills?"

Fang sat up slowly, glaring at Iggy. "I didn't ask you to get the _depression_ pills. I said _Tylenol_ for God's sake."

Iggy grumbled under his breath and grabbed a random bottle containing pain relievers. "You know, The School should pay me for all the work you guys force on me." He thrust his hand forward, propelling the bottle towards Fang's general direction, where he was slouching in the lounge. "But instead, all I get are emotional circles and a flock of people who don't appreciate me."

"Stop being so pessimistic, Ig," Fang muttered with a sigh, examining the bottle carefully. "Oh come on! This is Advil."

"Get it yourself, Fangy," Iggy replied to his whine, shuffling things all around the kitchen. "You've already tasked me with making dinner for everyone and you're even making me make food for that girl you just met."

Fang pressed his hand hard to his forehead and hopped to his feet, slightly upset. "Okay, okay, just calm down. You _know _none of us can cook, Ig." He strode to the kitchen slowly, switching out his bottle of Advil for Tylenol. Fang rubbed his head softly and popped a pill in his mouth, swallowing it down with water. From the pantry, he grabbed a small bag of roasted chestnuts and examined it thoroughly. "Made in…the… Product of China…"

"What'd you get out?" Iggy asked.

"The chestnuts."

Iggy made a satisfied sound. "Those are good. At least you aren't eating potato chips or something. It won't get your hands greasy either while you're playing Modern Warfare or whatever," he muttered with a sigh, cutting up more meat and putting them onto a pan to sear them.

"I clean up after myself!" Fang nearly whined, ripping the bag open and popping a fully-shelled chestnut into his mouth. "Damn chestnut!" He spit it out, and it hit Iggy on the head, which he thankfully ignored. _I'm never eating this crap ever again, _he thought, setting the bag on the counter.

"I didn't _say_ you didn't," Iggy countered, but in his mind, he was annoyed at the Flock keeping the lounge messed up. "But seriously, just look at the damn place!"

He pointed at the couches, which were all out of place and the seats were flipped on their sides. The carpet was filled with crumbs, trash and dust. The Xbox lay on its side, still turned on and humming quietly. On the table were magazines and guide books strewn about, in addition to controllers disassembled. The TV, flat-screened and pretty huge, had a crack in the right corner of the screen, but somehow still worked. It looked like a battle had just taken place in there.

"I've said this so many times that I'm not sure if it matters," Iggy continued, shaking his head, still cooking up meat, "but you guys need a housekeeper."

Fang looked amused. "Aren't you our housekeeper, Ig?"

"Dear Lord, no!"

"Well, I'm not gonna do it 'cause I'm…" Fang paused and looked up at the white ceiling. "I dunno, but I'm just not gonna do it."

"You talk too much."

"And that's coming from the guy that's complaining." Fang shifted his head to look at Iggy, who, obviously, didn't notice the change.

"No, seriously, for an awkward and emo-ish guy like you, you've been talking a lot ever since that Maximum girl came along," Iggy said quietly, yet pointedly. "It's because of her, isn't it?" He stopped cooking and looked directly at Fang with his unseeing pale blue eyes.

When their eyes met, Fang froze in his place, blinking rapidly as he quickly averted his stare to some spiky white-haired dude with sunglasses on the Food Network channel.

"I hit the nail on the head, didn't I?" Iggy continued in that low voice. He turned back to his cooking, listening quietly to the instructions made by the cook on the TV.

With a nonchalant sip of his water and a furious clench of his fists, which had paled remarkably by now, Fang replied, "Don't ask me, Ig. I'm not into lovey-dovey business. I'll leave that to you and Nudge. Or _Intern Ella,_" he added with an un-Fang-like snicker.

Iggy rolled his eyes, but Fang didn't see it, ironically. "Don't flip the conversation around, _Nick._" He rarely used Fang's real name but when he did, Fang knew that Iggy was being thoughtful and serious. "I'm going to have to ask you again, buddy… Are your emotions out of whack 'cause of Max?"

Fang sighed and started grumbling under his breath, turning the TV off, to Iggy's dismay.

"Hey! I was watching that!" he cried, slamming his fist on the stove and burning his hand slightly. "Ow!"

"How can you be watching something?" Fang asked sardonically.

Iggy cursed and turned the stove off for a minute, obviously pissed. "Fang, you really gotta get your priorities straight. You're like…bipolar or something."

Fang hopped onto the couch and lay back, pulling his arms behind his head. "You think so? Of _course _I'm bipolar, Iggy. It's not like _you _have any mental problems and were thrown into a _shithole _like this." His voice was full of mockery and annoyance, but he was desperately trying to ignore Iggy's original question. "Oh, and every _fucking _day, they so _don't _give me depression pills and they _don't _keep every pointy object they can away from me so I _don't _commit suicide." The vein in his head pulsed dangerously, and Fang was nearly at his limit.

"Just calm down, Nick!" Iggy grumbled. He knew this was getting out of hand. Once Fang started on the whole _"I'M IN A FUCKING PSYCHO WARD" _conversation, Iggy would have no escape until Fang either calmed down or Iggy gave into whatever argument they were having. With a sigh, Iggy continued. "I understand that you really, really, really hate being in here, but you have to work with it. I'm being totally and super serious about you and Maxie Pad –" –Fang raised an eyebrow– "–helping each other out."

"We're polar opposites!" Fang countered.

"Opposites attract, don't they?"

"Shut up." Obviously, Fang didn't want this conversation at all. He probably absolutely _hated _Iggy right now. "Just shut up, Ig, shut up and let me think."

Iggy shrugged and rolled his eyes again, wrapping a bandage around his burnt hand. "Get busy living, Nick, or go die in a hole," he whispered, barely loud enough for Fang to hear it.

(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)

"Angel!" Gazzy shouted at the top of his lungs, moving his legs as fast as he could across the huge garden. Earlier, he had found an awesome spot to try out his new experiments, except that there were too many pretty flowers for him to blow up. Oh well. Poor flowers. "Angel, Angel, ANGEL!" Unfortunately for Angel, the boy rammed straight into her and tackled her to the ground, which seemed to be his plan from the start.

Her "big and innocent" eyes, as Max had described earlier in her head, suddenly narrowed into a glare. "Gazzy! What was that for?" Her arms wrapped around him in a loving, sisterly embrace, even though she looked deathly angry. "That was reckless!"

"I found a new experiments-spot for me and Ig!" he exclaimed, smiling wide as he stood up, helping Angel as well. "Isn't that great?" Gazzy didn't seem to notice the newcomer towering over the other two.

Max cocked her head to the side, wondering who this was and why he and Angel looked so alike. "Hi," she greeted carefully.

Angel seemed to realize at that moment that Max was there. "Oh yeah, Gazzy, this is a new…um, friend!" Like Fang, Angel hesitated before calling Max something. "And Max," she turned to the other girl, "this is Gasman, but we all call him Gazzy."

Gazzy smiled mischievously and held out his hand. "Gazzy 'The Gasman' Harmoni – ahem, Elric at your service!" He cut himself off from saying "Harmonia" and said "Elric" instead for some reason.

At this, Angel rolled her eyes. "His last name is really 'Harmonia'," she muttered, ruffling the top of his head. "He just likes saying 'Elric' because of some stupid cartoon he watches. We're brother and sister by the way," she added, almost ruefully.

_Angel obviously doesn't like this cartoon, whatever it is_, Max noted mentally. "I'm Maximum Ride, but people just call me Max," she said for the fourth time that day. "It's nice to meet you." She was getting somewhat annoyed with being so imaginative with her newer name.

"Maximum Ride?" Gazzy repeated curiously. "It sounds like something Iggy would say when he watches all of _those _videos." His eyebrows wiggled when he said _those_. "You know, he likes going 'IN MY PANTS!' a lot. So he'd probably say something like, 'Wow, a maximum ride in my pants' and –"

Angel hit him atop the head. "Bad Gazzy."

"What? Nudge would have totally said that," he grumbled, pouting angrily.

"But Nudge isn't here, is she, Gazzy?" was her retort, her small and delicate hand taking Max's in her own. "Come on, Max. Let's get out of here before Gazzy returns from the gutter."

Max was on the edge of blowing up with laughter. Other than the "maximum ride" innuendo/comment, she loved everything they said. An eight year-old and a ten year-old were already having their minds on _that _kind of stuff? What kind of place was this – _oh yeah, it's a psycho ward for the mentally insane, _she reminded herself. _Fang – er, Nick and Iggy must be really bad influences if that's what up._

(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)

"Fang, I'm just trying to help –"

"Well, _try harder_ Ig_, _'cause you're just making things worse!"

"How do I try harder when you're not complying with me?"

"Maybe you should just stop trying then!"

"There's something wrong with you, Fang, and I want to help!"

"Like I said, I'm in this shithole for a reason, Ig."

"Just calm down and we can talk about this…"

"I _am _calm! And we _are _talking."

"Stop being so angry!"

"I'M _NOT _ANGRY."

Max froze to the voices heard in the lounge, but Angel tugged on her arm, urging her forward. "Stay quiet," she murmured quietly, but soon added, "Once they see us, they'll stop arguing. Act nonchalant, like you never heard anything."

She nodded, amazed that this young girl was so thoughtful. "Hi guys," Max greeted, trying to act nonchalant, as Angel had put, while they stepped into the living room. Her hand moved up in a wave as a gesture of 'Hello.'

"Okay, that was a little _too _nonchalant," Angel muttered, sighing softly, nudging Max's arm with her shoulder.

Max dropped her hand and felt a wave of blood rush across her face. "Sorry," she replied back, averting her gaze from Angel to Iggy and then finally to Fang. "Nick? Iggy?"

Both boys turned to look at Max, except that Iggy looked in a more general direction, rather than set his eyes completely on her. "Yes, Max?" they both said in unison. Suddenly, both shifted their heads to glare at each other.

_Is Iggy really blind? _she wondered. "Umm…are you guys okay?"

"Fine! I'm just _fine,_" Fang hissed, his eyes narrowing at the sight of Max. He threw up his arms in annoyance and closed his eyes, breathing deeply. "Life is _wonderful, _Max." His voice was full of obvious sarcasm.

Max felt the anger in her surge from her chest and out of her mouth. "Nick, what the hell is wrong with you? At the start of the day you were all goody-goody and happy and calm and whatnot and now – now I have no idea what's up with you!"

Iggy rubbed his temples softly. "Can we all just tone is down a little?" he asked in vain.

Both ignored him, whether or not intentional.

"Iggy, let's go," Angel called out, walking towards the blind boy.

"No, let's stay. If we leave these two alone, who knows what might happen?" he muttered, patting Angel on the head softly.

"Max, you don't understand a thing –"

"Yeah, I _don't,_ Nick, and that's why I'm tryin' to help you guys!" she interrupted, glaring at Fang intensely. The moment their eyes locked, Max's heart fluttered unintentionally, for reasons unknown, as if it sprouted wings and flew away. "I want to help!"

Fang sighed and crossed his arms, using his right hand to hold the bridge of his nose. "I don't want your help," he replied simply. "I'm going." He turned around and shoved his way through Angel and Iggy and into another hallway.

"Nick! Nick – Dammit, _Fang_, get your ass back here!" Max shouted to no avail.

His ears perked up when she called out his nickname, and for a split second, he pondered whether he should turn around and apologize. Soon, that second passed, and he continued walking. "I'm sorry, Max," he whispered under his breath, truly meaning his apology.

Unfortunately for him (or possibly fortunately), Angel heard this and glanced at Max, wondering if she heard it too. Once Fang was out of earshot, Angel said, "Fang isn't really mad at you Max. He's just…upset that he got angry." She hoped that her words were entirely true.

Max frowned and crossed her arms. "I don't trust Fa - Nick. He's…" Her voice trailed off as she thought of the right word to describe him. "He's just…unpredictable, I guess. There's not really a good, solid word I can use to call the guy."

Iggy smiled at her words. "I understand the feeling. He was pretty bitchy when I first met him, but he's a good guy with good intentions… It's just…" He stopped talking, wondering if it would be right to tell Fang's story to the newcomer. After a second, he decided it wasn't. "Well, forget what I said. You just gotta warm up to the guy."

"Ew." Max looked slightly and horrifically appalled at the thought.

"Get your head out of the gutter, Max," Angel muttered, leaning against Iggy. "Iggy, can you carry me to my room?" she requested quietly.

Iggy raised an eyebrow. "Why can't you just –"

"I'm tired." Her big and innocent eyes bored into Iggy's, even though he was unable to see. "Please, Iggy?" she murmured with that cute voice, faking a yawn.

"Is she doing the eyes?" Iggy asked Max without looking at her. "You know, the Bambi eyes?"

Max nodded, and then realized the truth to his blindness. "Yeah, she is."

"Ugh. Fine. Let's go, Angel," he muttered, holding out his arms. Angel hopped into them, but Iggy grunted in shock. "Whoa, Angel…what have you been eating?" Iggy teased. He nudged his head forward a few times to signal Max to join them.

Angel sighed and hit him on the head gently. "I've been eating everything you've been making, Iggy!"

Max wondered why those two were in the "psycho ward" – they seemed too normal and friendly.

"I know what you're thinking, Max," Angel burst out with a huge grin on her face. "You're thinking '_Why are these two in the psycho house when they seem too normal and friendly?_' Am I right?"

"Well, I actually thought 'psycho ward' not –"

"Same difference," Angel cut in. "My point is, you're curious as to why Iggy and I are here, right?"

"And Gazzy and Fang, too."

Iggy's ears seemed to twitch at Fang's name. "Why do you do that?" he asked, sounding inquisitive.

"Do what?" Max followed close behind them as they walked through corridor after corridor of rooms and hallways.

"Sometimes you say 'Nick' and sometimes you say 'Fang.' What's with that?"

"I dunno." Max shrugged. "I guess I just like his names. And I just…like saying both, I guess. He's never really given me the OK to say 'Fang' anyway."

Angel giggled quietly to herself. _If only Max knew what I knew. Hehehe._

All conversation stopped there, and all that was heard was the soft breathing, and pattering feet of the three as they walked along the hallway, finally stopping in a certain one that Max couldn't distinguish from any other.

"Okay, Angel, we're here. Now open the door," Iggy sighed after a moment of walking along the most recent corridor. He stood in front of a wooden door that had a sign saying 'ANGEL&GAZZY HARMONIA' in a well-written graffiti style hanging on the doorknob. Under Gazzy's name was a Post-It note that had the word 'ELRIC' written on it. Obviously, that cartoon had gotten to him.

"So, where do I end up?"

Iggy glanced at Max as Angel opened the door carefully, as if Gazzy had a crazy experiment – Iggy rephrased that thought. _Angel opened the door carefully _because _Gazzy probably _has _a crazy experiment stuck in there. _

"Wherever you want," Iggy replied carefully. "With me –" –Max raised an eyebrow– "Fang–" –Her face flushed deeply– "or Nudge." Iggy put Angel down and looked in her general direction. "I feel awkward silence. Did I say something wrong?"

Angel giggled and tugged on Iggy's sleeve. "She blushed at the mention of Fnicky's name…Well, also raised an eyebrow when you said your name."

"What's with you?" Iggy muttered under his breath, but Max heard it.

"Well, nothing, other than I'm in a mental disabilities house –"

"Psycho ward –"

"Same difference!" Angel cut in, gesturing Max to continue.

Max cocked her head to the side, looking at Angel curiously. "I actually wasn't going to say anything else."

"Oh." Angel backed up to her door and opened it, slipping inside slowly. "I'll see you guys at dinner?" she said almost as a question when she glanced at the clock, reading "5:22PM."

Iggy's eyes widened. "Holy shi – crap! Dinner!" he shouted loudly, pressing his palm hard to his forehead. "Sorry, Max, I gotta get dinner ready! Go talk to Fangy or Nudge or somethin'!" He pointed at the rest of the doors in the hall. "Each of 'em is a part of our little family – except for Ella, but she's kind of our…overseer, I guess."

Max looked confused. "Wait, what am I supposed to ask?"

"You should probably ask Nudge if she'll let you bunk with her. Or maybe you'd want to bunk with Fang – okay, okay, don't hit me!" He raised his hands up in response to the displacement of air (which was Max's hand moving up in a fist to hit him).

Max hit Iggy's shoulder softly. "I'm going to talk to him and see if he's calmed down. You think that's a good idea?"

Iggy shrugged and slapped Max's hand away. "If it were me, I'd say _no, _that's a _horrible _idea, but since it's you, eh… I'd say do whatever you want." His hand pressed gently onto her head. "Good luck on getting to the guy. He's honestly _insane._" Anger still residing inside him from his fight with Fang, Iggy refused to continue speaking about him. Instead, he changed the topic. "I'll be doing dinner, so is there any kind of food you'd prefer?"

"Hamburgers – no, wait, _bacon-wrapped _hamburgers," Max answered quickly.

"Mm…that actually doesn't sound too bad. Alright, I'll send your request into Chef Sparda right away, Miss Ride," he said happily, almost literally hopping away. As he made his exit, Iggy mumbled to himself, "Bacon-wrapped hamburgers…"

Max rolled her eyes and walked around the hallway, looking at each of the nameplates with much interest. She passed by Ella's, Iggy's and Nudge's before stopping at Fang's. His name was written in the same graffiti style she had seen on each of theirs, but a little thing she noticed was that there were vampire fangs and blood splattered around his name. _Huh,_ she thought, m_aybe he's in the psycho house thing place 'cause he's a _vampire. "Hey, Fa – Nick?" she called, knocking on his door.

"Meh. Comin'." A few seconds later, the door slammed open. "What do you want?" His voice was cold and angry, and his eyes also lacked any care or sympathy.

"Umm…" Max turned away and stared at her Vans. "I, uh, wanted to tell you…" She hated apologies to the rotten core. "I'm…"

Fang held up a hand. "I don't need your apology, Max." It wasn't sarcastic or angry; in fact, it sounded much more caring than anything she had heard from him before.

"Oh. Well, okay, then…uh…"

The air was awkward and silent for a moment until Fang asked, "Do you want to come in?"

Max's face turned a bright shade of red. "No, no, no thanks!"

Fang shrugged. "Your loss."

He began to close the door, but Max pressed her hand again the wood to stop him.

"Hey!"

"What?"

"That doesn't mean I didn't want to talk to you about something!"

He shrugged again, looking at her with bored eyes. He moved his hands in a _'Go talk already. I'm bored' _motion.

"Uh…since…I'm… Staying here… Who do you think I should bunk with?" she nearly blurted out. That wasn't why she wanted to speak with him, but he didn't seem ready to talk about the heated argument Iggy and he had earlier.

Fang raised an eyebrow. "You want to actually…share a room with someone? _Here_?" He said it as if it was the most absurd thing he had ever heard – which it probably was.

"Yeah… I guess?" Max mumbled, eyes downcast on the floor as her words formed into a question.

"Just request a single room. I feel it's better than sleeping with any of us." At the look on her face, Fang sighed and put his hand on her should. "Out of the gutter, Max. Out. Of. The. Gutter."

Max slumped over at the feel of his hand. "Hey. It's not_ my _fault I'm misunderstanding these things! That's like the fourth time I've heard someone say… _that!_"

Fang snorted and took his hand back, turning his back to her. "So can I get back to my blog? I'm late on my post."

"You do a blog?" she said in shock. "I hadn't realized that you guys were…well, allowed access to the outside world?"

Another snort. "We aren't _that _confined." He gestured for her to enter his room. "Before you make any at all assumptions about me, I'm not going to drink your blood." With that, Max stepped into his room, but Fang swung the door wide open. "Precautions," he replied to her questioning face. "Unless…you want me to close it?"

"No way!" she almost shouted back, covering her face with one hand. "Just explain your blog, emo-boy." Her eyes traveled all over his room, realizing that the wallpaper was black and the whole place was just as depressing as Fang. _Emo-boy…is…pretty accurate, actually, _she mused. There was a single bed, a walk-in closet, a desk with a lamp that seemed unused and a window with the curtains pulled over.

Fang sighed and sat cross-legged on his bed, opening his laptop to a 'blogspot' website. "This is the blog. Gets a lot of views." He shifted his laptop so Max could see it.

Her eyes widened. "Weird. I've read through this blog before." _Life of a Juvenile Delinquent…in a psycho house. _Max grunted, and knelt down next to Fang's bed.

"Have you? What did you think of it?"

"No offense…but I thought it was really stupid."

Fang let out an exasperated breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. "That's a new thing to add to the list of things I'll have to live with," he muttered under his breath, typing furiously.

Max looked at him with an annoyed face. "And what is that, exactly?"

"A female being who underappreciates the intelligence of a sophisticated juvenile such as myself," he grumbled.

"Wow. Words with more than _four _syllables. _Amazing,_" she teased sarcastically.

"Would you care to read the dictionary for the meanings of the words I just spoke?" he countered, still typing. _'Yo there. I met a new girl at the asylum today. She was in a car accident a few days ago and finally woke up. I was hoping that she would be more… What's the word… ?'_

"Awesome?"

_'…Intelligent. Most definitely, I wish she was more intelligent.' _He laughed quietly and glanced at Max. "What do you think of that?"

"Hey, I'm not dumb." Max pouted and crossed her arms, showing her annoyance.

Fang grinned. "I didn't say that."

"You typed it!" she contradicted, shooting him a glare.

"I typed 'I wish she was more intelligent.' I didn't type you were dumb."

"Same difference!"

"Now you're turning into Angel," he murmured, continuing his blog post. _'All of a sudden, having her sit next to me, I'm realizing that this girl will be more of a handful than I've ever taken. Why did Ella stick me and the gang to, quote and quote, "Help this girl"? She is… nerve-wracking. Distressing. Irritating. Annoying. Exhausting… and the list goes on…' _

"Ugh. I hate you," she grumbled, looking at the words he typed.

"I love you too, sweetie," he replied inattentively, still typing. _'I thought girls in car accidents were supposed to be all emotional and needy, but this girl will be the death of me. Ugh. Signing off ~Fang.'_

"Ew, awkward stalker." Max peered over the bed and read the rest of what he wrote. "…Tch. 'Emotional and needy'? Get your head out of the clouds, Nick."

Fang looked at her with an almost genuinely confused face. "What are clouds?"

"Fang!" she scolded, hitting his arm gently.

He flinched and stared at her curiously.

Max's eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. "Eh? What's with that look on your face? Fang?"

"You just called me Fang," he murmured quietly, a lopsided smile appearing on his face. _What a weird feeling, _Fang thought, chuckling.

"So do you want me to call you that?" Max still looked fairly perplexed, but pleasantly amused with the way Fang was grinning.

"Yeah."

"Okay. You're Fang."

Fang nodded and stood up from his bed, glancing at the clock. It had been a good ten minutes since she had invaded his moments of peace. He nodded his head at the clock and then looked at Max. "Dinner," he said quietly.

"Ooh! Bacon-wrapped hamburgers!" she nearly screamed. "I'll race you there!"

"Bacon-wrapped…hamburgers? What is Iggy thinking?" _He's going to burn the place down, _he added mentally.

"Darn, I should've told him to make bacon-wrapped asparagus too!"

"You're the one with the bacon-wrapped nonsense?" Fang sighed and slipped on a pair of black and white checkered Vans. "This isn't EpicMealTime you know, Max."

Her hands clasped together excitedly. "We should totally do something like that! Epic… Epic juveniles eating epic meals in an epic psycho house!"

"You _really _shouldn't ever say 'epic' ever again," Fang muttered, leaving the room and closing the door as soon as Max left it.

"Epic, epic, epic," she chanted repeatedly, just to annoy him.

Fang sighed, but knew this girl would be a good addition to his family. The way she was would bring his head back to the way it was. All he had to do now was be able to survive her crazy antics. He threw his head back and stared up at the ceiling for a moment. _That in itself, _Fang pondered, _will be the most difficult of all._

"Fang? You coming?" Max asked after getting Angel out of her room.

"I'll get Nudge," Angel confirmed, almost waddling over to the other girl's room. "Nudge?" She knocked on the door carefully, as if she was scared of who was inside. "Nudge?"

"Is it dinner time?" came the cry from inside. The voice was high pitched and obviously excited. "Ooh! What did Iggy make this time? Did he make steak like I asked him? 'Cause if he didn't, I'm going to beat that boy up!" The door flew open and a girl with dark hair and mocha skin almost literally sprang out of the room. "Because last time when I asked him to make steak, he made _chicken! _CHICKEN! He made, like, such a gross poultry thing! And it was really gross, I mean, come on, he cooked the whole _thing! _Did you know that those McNuggets are made out of every single part of a chicken? Even the beak and the feet and bones and _everything!_ Grossness! Gosh! I mean, can't they just –"

Angel finally managed to clamp her hand over Nudge's mouth. "Max, this is Monique Angelo, but we just call her Nudge."

Max nodded, surprised that someone so small could talk _that _much.

Fang nudged Max with his shoulder. "Don't be so shocked, Max. She's much more annoying than what you've just heard."

Nudge apparently bit Angel's hand, for the younger girl screeched bloody murder. "Fang, I heard that! That was so mean! It was meaner than the time Iggy…" She continued her rant until the rest of them were already walking towards the lounge area. "Hey! Where you guys going?"

Max sighed and hit her head against a nearby wall. "I really don't know why they put me in here, but I think I am gonna go crazy if I stay here any longer."

"That's the spirit, Max!" Angel exclaimed, taking her hand and dragging Max along as she skipped to the lounge. "We're all nuts, so it's your turn!"

She looked back and gave Fang a pleading look. _Please help me? _she mouthed.

Fang gave her a rare, crooked smile and shrugged, still walking at the leisurely pace he did.

"You know," Max muttered, looking forward again, trying to keep up with Angel's ludicrous pace. Finally, the three made it to the lounge where Iggy had already set up the table with their dinner. "I think I'm already going nuts."

"I hate chestnuts," Iggy muttered, hearing Max's words.

Fang just chuckled.

(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)

"_This has been said so many times that I'm not sure if it matters, but it must be said again that all us boys are just screaming into microphones for attention because we're just so bored…_

_I used to obsess over living. Now I only obsess over you. Tell me you'd like boys like me better in the dark lying on top of you."_

**Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying **– _Fall Out Boy_

**(end of chapter two)**

Like it? Don't like it?

**REVIEW. NOW.** I want at least fifteen-ish reviews on this before I update with the next chapter! (Fifteen reviews _total, _silly.)

Sort of a filler-chapter…just an introduction, really.

**READ+REVIEW=UPDATE**

Do it, do it, do it! If you review, the next one will be up way faster!

~anime-heroine

**Edit:**_Special thanks to __**Fluffy Bunnies Are So Cute**__ for the awesome beta/edit! :D She's awesome. (: _

_Also, I've decided to add song quotes to the song. I know, I know: FFN sort of looks down on that, (it's against the rules to do song-fics, I believe) but I felt like adding in small bits of songs to my stories really brings out what I was trying to show through the story. With the feedback from my Pokemon story __**enharmonic:**__ I felt like it was a good idea and that people seemed to understand it more…I hope you agree too. Check back on C1 to see the song-quote. (It's a boring song-quote though.) (:_

**Disclaimer: **McNuggets- McDonalds. EpicMealTime- those cool cats on YouTube. Maximum Ride- James Patterson. Ace Attorney- Capcom. DMGX- Konami. Persona- Atlus. Final Fantasy VII- Square Enix. "Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying"- Fall Out Boy.


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